UK considers Huawei ban by September 2021

A draft bill proposes tough penalties on firms that breach the ban on Huawei gear

       The UK government is considering a ban on installing Huawei's 5G equipment as soon as next year, to pacify politicians who are pressing for tougher restrictions on the Chinese telecom giant.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that the ban could come as early as September 2021. Con

servative Party MPs have expressed their demands via the Telecommunications (Security) Bill, which is being laid before Parliament today and is set to be debated next week. The draft legislation proposes fines of as much as 10 per cent of sales, or 100,000 a day, on companies that breach security directives - such as allowing Huawei gear into their networks. In January, Boris Johnson’s government had granted Huawei a limited role in 5G networks, leading to a rebellion from his own party members. Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s 5G networks also created tensions between Washington and London, until Johnson reversed his position in July. British officials said at that time that new US sanctions announced in May were impacting the Huawei supply chain, and that they were no longer able to guarantee the security of Huawei’s equipment. The UK government then announced a ban on the purchase of new Huawei equipment from January 2021, and directed telecom companies to remove all existing Huawei5G equipment by 2027. A matter of security Last month, a report by the House of Commons' Defence Committee claimed that there was clear evidence of collusion between Huawei and Beijing. THe Committee further recommended that the government should consider the removal of all Huawei equipment from its 5G networks earlier than planned. The report accused Beijing of exerting pressure on the UK government to retain Huawei through both “covert and overt threats.” MPs advised the government to take all necessary steps to minimise delay, and to consider providing compensation to telecom companies if the 2027 deadline is brought forward. “We must not surrender our national security for the sake of short-term technological development,” said Tobias Ellwood, Committee chairman. A new ban on installing Huawei equipment would add to the legislation surrounding the purchase of the firm’s equipment. The draft legislation proposes to give telecoms regulator Ofcom new powers to monitor whether telcos are operating in accordance with the law. New powers could include the ability to conduct independent tests; spot-checking network equipment; and the power to demand specific documents from companies. Huawei said it was disappointed with the government’s decision to exclude it from the roll-out of 5G. “This decision is politically motivated and not based on a fair evaluation of the risks,” said Vice President Victor Zhang. “It does not serve anyone’s best interests as it would move Britain into the digital slow lane and put at risk the Government’s levelling up agenda,” he added.

Author: devz123@gmail.com(Dev Kundaliya)

Date: 2020-11-24

URL: https://www.computing.co.uk/news/4023859/uk-huawei-ban-september-2021

computing.co.uk